Lady Gaga's "Born This Way" was supposed to be the biggest album of the year. It was supposed to be the "voice of our generation," as the pop ster herself proclaimed. Now, only eight months after its release, the album's fifth single, "Marry the Night," peaked at a disappointing number 29 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, breaking Lady Gaga's streak of 11 consecutive top, boven 10 hits.

At the same time, one of the other biggest pop stars around right now, Katy Perry, tied Michael Jackson's record of 5 number one singles from an album, while her sixth single,...